Difference Between Natural Disaster and Man Made Disaster
People of the world have always faced both types of disasters, natural as well as man-made. Man-made disasters were not prevalent in ancient times. Man-made disasters are the results of industrial and material progress. Natural and man-made disasters equally play havoc on human in modern times. Sometimes, a man-made disaster has bigger impact than natural disaster. The cause of natural disaster is natural with man-made disaster is caused by man himself. Man-made disasters include leakage of oil in the sea, nuclear explosion, leakage of poisonous gases and chemical, fire, floods created by dams etc. Man-made disasters are avoidable. They may be averted if man works efficiently and carefully. On the other hand we have no control over a natural disaster. They include earthquake, tsunami, flood, typhoon, hurricane, tempest, avalanches, land slide etc. Man cannot avert them. However, it should be noted that some natural disaster are indirectly the result of man’s activities. For example draught may be the cause of cutting of forests. Thus, the number of man-made disasters is greater than natural disaster.
Natural disasters
Natural disasters like tsunami and earth quake plays havoc on life and property. Sometimes, millions of lives are lost in these disasters. Certainly, there are some measures to minimize the impact of natural disaster. But they cannot be averted altogether. A natural activity is not termed as a natural disaster until it has impact on human. For example, a volcano eruption at an uninhibited place is not a natural disaster. It is a natural event surely. Natural disasters are aggravated in the condition of unpreparedness on the part of man. A natural disaster has a bigger impact when man is not prepared for it. For example, earthquake cannot be predicted beforehand. It may engulf a large number of people at night while they are sleeping in their homes. A hurricane or a tornado gives opportunity for preparation to face it.
Man-made Disasters
Man-made disasters are caused by human activities. They may be in smaller magnitude such as a forest fire which has less impact and may be colossal such as the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. Man-made disasters are brought unknowingly as well as knowingly. Accidents happen due to negligence on the part of man. The Bhopal Gas tragedy is a result of an accident which played a havoc on the local residence.
In the modern world, terrorism is considered as a cause of man-made disaster. The 9/11 attack of terrorism on WTO is a kind of man-made disaster which took the lives of thousands of people. This was a crime of man against man. Terrorism has taken the lives of millions of people all over the world. So, crime may also be considered as a man-made disaster.
Wars are another kind of natural disaster. Millions of people have been killed in the wars during the last one hundred years. These wars were not accidents. They were fought intentionally to kill people. They are the shame on people who caused them.